for the five senses

Top 10 residential investment hot spots 2016

1. Limehouse, London – This area is benefiting from the combination of a recovering financial sector in the City and improved infrastructure due to the nearby Olympics facilities. Homes near Docklands Light Railway stations let and sell quickest and at the best prices.

2. Woking, Surrey – The town is only 25 miles from central London and has easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow, and has direct trains to second-home havens such as Honiton in Devon as well as the capital, so small flats sell and rent well as executive pieds-à-terre.

3. Elephant & Castle, London – “It’s subject to a £1.5 billion regeneration over the next 10 years,” Bradly Ward, Gordon & Co. Rental flats secure about five per cent annual gross yield. Homes south of Elephant & Castle, further from the Thames, are cheaper than north.

4. Rotterham, Yorkshire – More than 9,000 jobs have been created here with almost £500 million of investment in the past decade. Now a new railway station and 12,000-seat football stadium are under construction.

Local letting agents say flats in the Old Market and Keppel Wharf areas are most popular with renters.

5. Kew, London – Kew Village is well known and already fetches high prices. But north of the river, values are lower – for now. You may have to walk to Kew Bridge and the railway station, yet you get more for your money as a result.

There are plans for extensive new development here.

6. Hythe, Kent – This port has fantastic Channel views, but could become a commuter hot-spot, too. “It’s only three miles from Folkestone West station that provides a high speed service to St Pancras in 52 minutes,” says Strutt & Parker’s Michelle Mannering.

The town’s long waterfront has a wide selection of new apartments and houses on the market.

7. Manchester – It’s not just the BBC’s relocation to Salford that makes this a vibrant city.

The first tram extension, from Piccadilly to Tameside, opens soon.

This will make the city centre more accessible from eastern suburbs, including Droylsden and, eventually, Ashton-under-Lyne.

8. Cambridge – The city is called Silicon Fen and with good reason. More than 40 per cent of residents have degrees and it continues to attract software and scientific research companies.

There is a huge lettings market here thanks to science firms, 31 colleges and Addenbrooke’s Hospital. As a result, rents are high.

9. Birmingham – Part of the city will be redeveloped with a new station for the HS2 high-speed link to London. There are also plans for another 1,150 homes in a new canal-side district at Icknield Port Loop.

The Eastside area will see most redevelopment, with a £6 billion investment.

10. Pencoed area, Mid-Glamorgan – Where once there were hamlets, there is now a community of around 12,000 and still growing. Many people are drawn by the easy access to south Wales thanks to the nearby M4.

Homes in small villages are often cheaper than in towns, unlike much of England, because villages are generally more remote.